"Why Me?"

 

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Beta'd by the amazing Tenchi. Love you, woman, you're the best!

With help from Lynn who works with me when it comes to flow, continuity and other issues.

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Just a reminder of what's on my profile: reviews complaining or whinging about the lack 'o sex in stories will get deleted. If you want a smut-filled romp, you need to find another story to read.

 

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Chapter 31:

Sparkles!

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Standing by the Dark Lord's 'throne', Remus scratched his head then looked at Severus, eyes wide. The only thing that kept crossing his mind was the question – ‘This was a Death Eater meeting?’. He expected plenty of scary bits, events that were traumatizing, an evil taint, things like that, but not this.

First, there was a blue police box in one corner of the room they were in. It had the label 'Tardis' on it. Barty Crouch Jr. was always close to it. To Remus, it seemed like he was guarding it in some way. He wasn't sure what was going on there, as what mumblings he was picking up on from the man made exactly no sense, but it was beyond bizarre.

Next was the fact that no one seemed overly stressed. Some were eating, others were talking amongst themselves, a few were drinking, a couple were playing cards and only a small number seemed like they were actually paying attention to Voldemort. That was most certainly not what they knew of the man from the last war.

Of all of it, though, the strangest was Bella. Oh, he most certainly remembered how she had been during the last war and knew she was completely batty, but this—he didn't know what to make of it. Right off it seemed that, though completely wacko jacko, she wasn't manifesting it in a way that was harmful. Her oddball talk was still there, the same with the cackling, but she seemed focused on other things besides the desire to hurt people. At the moment, her attention was held by Nagini. And it was beyond the strangeness that he had seen since the whole nightmare had started.

The most noticeable was the fact that she was dressed all in pink. A neon pink that was so bright that you had to squint to look at it. It wasn't just her clothes and the dark celebrity type sunglasses that were that color, she also had pink streaks in her hair. She was completely made up with makeup that was—well, it matched the color she was wearing. That wasn't the worst of it, though. The worst? Nagini.

He honestly wasn't sure what was going on there. The snake didn't resemble the same serpent that he had seen the last time he was here. Not only was she wearing a harness that was attached to a pink rhinestone studded leash, but her scales were now pink tinged. If that wasn't bad enough, they too were decorated with rhinestones. The snake didn't seem the least bit perturbed by this either. If he read the body language on the serpent correctly, she seemed not to mind. At the moment, she was curled around Bella, head resting on her shoulder, hissing as Bella cooed to her.

Looking over at Severus, eyes wide, he just saw a shrug of the shoulders from the Potions Master and a roll of his eyes. That was enough to tell Remus that, though it was strange, it was something considered normal. This was most certainly not what Albus kept telling them when it came to what was going on with this faction of the war. In fact, it was far more of a relaxed atmosphere than Order meetings were. Oh yes, there was something off with so much of this.

Glancing at Remus as he looked at Bella and Nagini, Tom snorted then said with a flap of his hand, “Nothing to concern yourself with. Nagini has decided that Bella is her soul mate and likes the 'makeover' she's been given. At least she isn't causing havoc and trying to kidnap my followers.” Sighing and rolling his eyes, Tom just shook his head. “If it keeps her out of mischief, I won't say a word to her.”

“Soul mates?” Remus asked, both eyebrows up, glancing at Severus who had his arms folded over his chest and was looking down and shaking his head over it.

“You'll soon figure out that this is normal and ignore it,” Tom told him with a soft giggle. Reaching over and taking Severus' hand, ignoring the huff from the man in black over that, holding on tightly despite attempts by him to pull it away, Tom snorted then said, “For a time, she was convinced that Severus was her one and only true love. She's rather fickle, so she'll get over it. No harm will come from it and they'll both enjoy the interaction.”

Seeing that wonderfully delectable werewolf look back at the 'new couple', Tom gave a wistful sigh as he glanced at the man. Releasing Severus' hand, his fingers began to twitch as he looked at Remus' hair. The shaggy look, though he adored it, was something he not only wanted to run his fingers through, but style into something more fashionable. After all, he had a 'thing' about hair. Reaching up, he was about to run his fingers through the wonderful werewolf's hair, when he stopped as Remus looked at him. Grinning, he said, wiggling his fingers, “I just want to run my fingers through it. Nothing more, you have my word!”

After a glance at Severus, who was shaking his head vigorously, Remus looked back at Tom, eyebrow ached, head cocked to the side. He would have to get with Severus later to see what the 'hair bit' was about so he could stay on his toes.

“No hair then?” Tom asked innocently. Seeing Remus shake his head, that look on his face, he then let out a dejected sigh. “No hair. Understood.” This whole submissive thing was still quite new to him, but it was fairly exciting. Well, other than not getting his way. That he still wasn't sure about as it rankled and made him pout. “Let me get this finished then we'll head to my chambers and suss out the issue with drama queen Draco. Poor Harry must be beside himself over this.”

“Potter isn't handling it well,” Severus admitted, folding his arms over his chest. Hoping to move this along faster so that the Dark Lord wouldn't get too distracted, he added, voice lowered, “And Narcissa is aware of the issue. She's on the warpath over it.” Stopping, he waited, figuring that it would speed things along.

Eyes going wide, Tom, shuddering at the implications of what that meant, stood quickly then said, voice decidedly squeaky, “Yes, we'll hurry things along!” Summoning those closer he needed to talk to, he began pacing, his delicate violet robes swirling around him as he began delegating what he wanted done. He most certainly didn't need a shrieking, enraged Narcissa showing up demanding that he do something. Oh no, that frightened him! Which meant he had to get to work to find the solution!

Shoulders shaking as he tried not to chuckle, Remus just shook his head. Lord Voldemort himself was terrified of Narcissa. That was funny!

 

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Looking at the pile of clothing, chocolate and various other gifts on the table, Lucius gave an amused snort. “Tom is most certainly smitten with you, Remus.” He hadn't seen the Dark Lord pull this out yet with anyone. There were gifts, of course, but never this overboard with anyone before.

“He's trying to bribe him into submitting to his hair being played with,” Severus snorted before taking a sip of tea.

“That isn't something you want to allow to happen,” Lucius told him, looking entirely amused. “He gets these outlandish ideas and religiously follows London Fashion Week. Some of the hairdos that come from that are strange, so it's best to put him off.”

“He can keep his hands to himself on that topic,” Remus told him with a sigh in his voice. “Severus has already filled me in on his propensity for that and I don't plan to allow it.”



Still completely amused, Lucius shook his head. Sobering up, he asked, “Does he have something? Or is he on the way to having a solution?” That he hoped because, though Narcissa was calm now, he knew his wife and that she wouldn't remain that way. Especially if it went on much longer. Though the Calming Draught that Severus had given her was good, she probably wouldn't allow herself to continue to ingest it. That meant he was in extreme danger. And, honestly, this needed to stop before the bond was invoked worse. He also didn't like the idea of his son staying in a potion induced sleep.

“He's onto something,” Severus assured him. “He needs to do some more research today and press on from there. We're supposed to bring the ferrets with us tomorrow so he can get direct samples of the fur as he needs something fresher to brew up the antidote for it. From what he told us, he should manage by tomorrow then we can give it to Draco. We explained what we're doing now about the situation and even he agrees that it's probably the best way to handle the issue as he's not sure that what he found would quell all the side effects enough. Especially since it's grown worse.”

“He also sent off word to Narcissa that he's on the case and should have something soon,” Remus added. “It's his hope that will control some of her more violent tendencies.”

“It should,” Lucius nodded, happy with that. Though Narcissa could be very much like her sister in many things, she would listen to Tom on important matters. This was one area she would as she knew Tom as a genius with such things.

“He also said that this will take more than one dose to fully take effect. However, the first one should cut down the reaction enough that Draco can relocate with his mother. We know Narcissa will keep a close enough eye on him that he won't be able to pull anything foolish,” Severus pressed on.

More news he was pleased with. Good! Letting out a relieved sigh, Lucius said, “Perfect. We'll prepare for that.” It was his hope that the following evening they could move his son and things would calm down. It would also calm the bond down and not trigger more that they weren't prepared for. Clearing his throat, he said, softly, “Black made a suggestion I think we should take. Once this is handled we take a day and do something enjoyable to offset how bad this has been. Harry—well, he hit the end of what he could take today and actually refuses to leave their room at this time. I'm sure Black will get him calmed down, of course, but it's telling enough that we probably need more than a couple of hours at the cinema for all of us to relax.”

Without thinking about it or waiting to hear what Lupin had to say, Severus nodded. “We need to do that. All there is to it. I think we all need a break for more than just a couple hours.” What he didn't add was that he was damned sure that once one part of the insanity ended, he was positive another would kick up. With the bonds in place for all of them, he was damned certain there was more to come, especially because of the personalities involved in the mess.

“We'll get together and decide what we want to do,” Lucius told him, pleased that both were in agreement. “I'm sure that we can find something enjoyable out of the house that we can all partake in. Perhaps Harry has some suggestions. The movies are something we all seem to like, so I'm sure he has more ideas.”

“He probably does,” Remus agreed, actually looking forward to this. “Though Severus grew up among Muggles, I think Harry may know better what there is to do now. I don't think it wise, with all the danger you and Harry are supposedly in, to go out amongst our kind.”

“We'll get with him and see,” Remus told him with a smile. Sobering up, he asked, “Is Harry calming down any?”

“When I was up there last, he was still sleeping. Black said he managed to get him settled down. I'm sure that by tomorrow he'll have Harry ready to leave the room,” Lucius explained with a shake of his head. “I think he just needed time away to get a handle on what he was dealing with then calm down, nothing more. Sirius does well in helping him, so it should work out.”

“I think we've all been pushed to the edge of what we can take,” Severus admitted, remembering how he had been dealing with it, realizing that though he liked the not caring that came with some of the methods, it wasn't the best way to cope.

“As the biggest of the problems we've been taking on is at least under some form of control and a solution is in sight, I vote we all just relax tonight,” Remus suggested, looking around. “Get a nice meal then go outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.”

“Something Black suggested we all do anyway,” Lucius nodded. “I'll go up and talk to him, but I doubt he or Harry will join us. I think the rest will probably do both of them good anyway.”

“We'll plan for that,” Severus said, pondering another soak in the hot tub to relax. However, he would make damned sure that Lucius stayed across the tub from them and kept his hands in view at all times, as they sure didn't need him to act the way he normally did! That wouldn't aid in the insanity reduction and he was to the point of using spells to ensure that happened.

 

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Conjuring a chair and taking a seat by the bed, Lucius looked at the still sleeping Harry. Sirius was sitting up and eating, but had Harry's head in his lap while he did. “Is it better or is he just sleeping?”

“I woke him to see if he wanted to eat. All he mumbled was that he was tired and conked right back out. He should be fine in the morning. At least I think I can coax him out of the room,” Sirius explained in between bites of his food.

“Good,” Lucius nodded. Then he gave a rundown of what the other two found out from Tom before pressing on to the other suggestion. When he finished, he waited for Sirius' reaction.

“We'll do that,” Sirius said, setting his plate aside. Running his fingers through the sleeping Harry's hair, he added, “I'm sure I can get him out tomorrow then get him to come up with something we'll all like. What I'll do is have him make a list of activities and write down an explanation of what they are, then we can choose. Not only will it give all of us an idea of what’s available to do, but give him somewhere to focus.”

“Good plan,” Lucius nodded, not having thought about that. “I'm sure Severus can explain some of them if Harry's description doesn't give us enough of a clue.”

Nodding to that, Sirius looked down at his godson and sighed. Knowing what brought on this latest issue with him and what helped to alleviate it, he said, “We need to talk, Lucius. Seriously. And you need to keep your impulses under control while we do.”

Wondering what this was about, Lucius nodded then leaned back, crossing his legs. “My assurances,” he told him. “What is the topic, if I may ask.”

“I think we need to start pressing some areas. I'm working the best I can with Harry when it comes to that, but it's taking time. What else is factoring in is I think the bond has been pressing more than we think.” Shaking his head, he sighed then let Lucius in on the tidbit of information from Harry about wanting held as a way to deal with some of the mess. “When it comes to this whole nightmare, I think we ignored that and what it could mean when you did it. If Harry's getting the same kind of impulse from it, I'm damned sure it's bond related. As we really haven't looked into the bond much more since that first bit, I'm wondering if we might need to do so again.” Looking at Lucius, he glared, “And some bits can't continue. I'm damned sure that it's just making some of this worse! I get that Draco didn't intend to do what he did or trigger what came from the bond, but I'm also equally as sure that there is now no going back what it has been. All this tells me that we need to prepare for it to get worse.”

Taking all that in, tossing it back and forth in his mind, Lucius looked at him, hand over his mouth as he thought it over. Then he said, quietly, “You're right. I bet that the bond has been pulling for plenty since it started. There's also the fact that it's probably going to press harder now that bits are manifesting. From what I know, even Tom hasn't come up with the information we need on it. That tells me we now have to start treading more cautiously and do something to play towards it so it doesn't grow worse.” Looking down, he added softly, “I'll keep certain areas on a leash as well. I doubt what I’ve been doing is aiding anything.”

“Except the insanity,” Sirius added, glaring at him. Groaning, he let his head drop back and wondered what hell he was about to invoke on Harry and himself with what he was about to suggest. It was just something he thought might help, especially with what Harry was dealing with. “I'm going to suggest that you start sleeping in here.” Opening his eyes and looking at Lucius, who had an excited expression on his face, he added, voice a low snarl, “One hint of the usual shite you pull and I'm going to lose my temper, Lucius! I mean it! In fact, I'm sleeping with my wand right under my pillow. If you pull one stupid stunt, I'm sending you into the shower and turning the cold water on you then I'll get even more creative. Do you understand me?”

“Perfectly,” Lucius assured him with a vigorous nod. This—oh, this was a dream come true! Nothing anywhere could compare to the feeling of sleeping curled up to Sirius! That he wanted to keep experiencing. With the show of dominance when it came to Narcissa, coupled with everything else up to this point, he wanted this to press on. And he was now sure he had the sufficient motivation to keep himself under control as well.

Rubbing a hand over his face and groaning, Sirius sighed. “We'll start tonight and see how it goes. If it helps or seems to have some kind of effect, we'll keep it up. If not, we'll revert back to the way it was until it presses us there in another way.”

Nodding so vigorously that his hair was hitting him in the face, making it sting and he was wondering if he would get welts from it, Lucius agreed, “We can try. My assurances that I will behave accordingly.”

Glaring at the prat, Sirius ground out, “And there are some ground rules here, Malfoy!” Seeing the man look enthused, but motioning him to go on, Sirius told him, “First; no clinging so hard I can't breathe! You've done that the last couple times. I want to be able to move as well. Something you don't seem to want to allow. You also have to keep the drooling under control. And keep your morning wood to yourself and not pressed to my arse. If you do that and keep your urges to yourself, we'll continue on. If not, you're just going to make everything all the harder on the rest of us.” Sighing heavily, he added, “You have no clue how hard it was to get Harry to where he's at the level of comfort he is now. You pulling that kind of shite is just making it worse. I don't need that. So far, I've got him moving the way we both need him to and want it to continue.”

“Very true,” Lucius concurred, about to agree to everything and anything Sirius said to get this. “I'll let you continue on with what you've been doing and assist all I can. You have my word that I'll control my impulses.”

Looking at Malfoy, seeing the excited look there, Sirius gave an internal groan, wondering if this just heralded more insanity. He hoped not, but something had to give here. “We'll plan for it then. I'll get Harry awake enough before bedtime that I can explain to him what’s going on so he doesn't panic if he sees you here. Then we'll go from there.”

Loving the idea, Lucius began questioning him more, hoping to learn just how far he had managed to get with Harry so he could deal accordingly. With that, he was running through every scenario he could think of to make certain this went as smoothly as possible with no issues. If that happened, he would be allowed to indulge again. That was something he wanted and planned to make sure happened, so he wanted everything in place the best he could manage. It just involved keeping himself under control. That he could and would do.

 

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Lying there about midnight, Sirius had his eyes open. So far, this wasn't bad. Harry was sleeping curled up to him on one side and Lucius on the other. Unlike times past, Lucius just had an arm draped over him, though he was pressed close. So far there were no issues with that side of things. Lucius had been so enthused about joining them when it came to the normal bedtime he was shaking and all but bouncing around. Though obviously excited by this, he had behaved, keeping himself under control. That was good, though, as Sirius didn't need the added insanity after this day.

Sighing, he shut his eyes and held Harry close. At this point, he was ready to concede that the two were probably onto something with the closeness because he felt better, far more relaxed, than he had been before Lucius joined them. Despite the apprehension of knowing what the man was like, this felt good and right. Like it was meant to be.

Not wanting to dissect it further, just not having the energy for that, Sirius smiled then gave Harry a squeeze. Whatever consequences would come of it he would deal with the following day. For now, he just wanted to relax and get some rest. That and hope that the following day was calmer than this one was because he wasn't sure how much more even he could take.

Sliding to sleep, a smile on his face, he felt good. That's all there was to it. And he wanted more. That was something they were going to work on. Though Lucius was one that he needed to keep an eye on, there was plenty he had to work with Harry on as well to get him comfortable with this. Yeah, that he was going to do, that's for damned sure.

 

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